STEAM in the Park

Hundreds of parents, students and educators from across Orange County and beyond flocked to Bill Barber Park in Irvine on Saturday August 27 for STEAM in the Park.

Led by Math for Service (MFS), members of the community interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics explored their interests through activities such as Cookie Butter Programming, face painting, Paper Rocket, Math Relay, Interview Game, Math Magic show and many more. The All Girls Math Tournament held a raffle, sold boba and baked goods, and held a math relay, tangrams and puzzles, and Rubik’s cube contest.

In addition to curious young students, adults in the community invested in the education of children attended.

“[My wife and I] are interested in projects that Math for Service has like the bridge building, the paper helicopter and the video training,” Former Irvine Unified School District and Orange County Science Fair judge Larry Zysman said. “I would like to see what other STEAM projects Math for Service hosts.”

“I think it’s a size and scale,” CEO of Math for Service Dr. James Li said. “When you have a big size, you create an event in a big scale. This gives students the opportunity to see that [elements of] STEAM are connected. This is a fantastic way to start the school year.”

Over 100 volunteers from all branches of Math for Service planned and executed the successful event.

“Previously, all the groups worked as individuals and had individual events,” Li said. “We consider it beneficial that each group work together. When we have a bigger group, we have more resources. With more resources, we attract a larger audience.”

Parents of students also volunteered by running a concession stand and setting up a bake sale and boba sale.

“I think MFS is for a good cause,” Friends of MFS volunteer Dong Xu said. “Sometimes you may see a small event at a school, but you don’t see an event that happens at a large scale like this.”